9.13.2010

Slot Social is one of Winster’s most popular games. To be honest, it was the only game I played at Winster for a LONG time! I always enjoy slot games and the unique trading aspect was easy to figure out. That made it a winner in my book!

Each room holds up to five players. Each player has a personal slot machine!

Ooooh! Can I play?

Instead of pushing a button to spin multiple reels at once, you click “Spin” to get one piece at a time. (Hitting the Enter key works too.) When you’re ready to get points for your hand, hit the “CASH IN” button!

Now the cool part about Slot Social is that you can trade pieces with other players! It’s really easy to do. Click on a piece on your board that you want to trade, and then click on the piece that you want.

Lucky 7s!!

The other player will get a Yes/No confirm screen. If zie clicks “Yes” the pieces will trade out. That’s it!

Of course, if someone sends you a trade then you get the Yes/No confirm screen. Sometimes it can get a little… confusing. *^_^*

Attention, air traffic control!

That one isn’t too bad. I’ve had a few rounds where several people were sending multiple trades, or were trying to give me tons of items. Just take things one step at a time and you’ll be fine. ^_^

If you have a hard time seeing the tiny icons on another player’s board, just move your cursor over the pieces. Instant magnification!

Mmmm… Grapes!

This is a new feature for Slot Social and I love it! It’s definitely cut down on the number of accidental trades! (An accidental trade is when you offer on the wrong piece. Like trading grapes for grapes instead of grapes for cherries.)

Paytable

With any slots game it’s important to know which items are valuable. In Slot Social it’s even more important since you trade pieces! You need to know what to keep and what you can toss.

The following table lists all of items and their values. 3x means three of a kind. 4x is four of a kind, and 5x is five of a kind. Oh, and Club Winster members get quadruple points!

The Winster Logo is almost always called a “Winnie” in Slot Social. When someone says they’re trying to get a jackpot (or JP) they mean they want to get 5 Winnies.

Item

Free Players

Club Winster

Winster Logo (Winnies)

5x =1650 4x = 800 3x = 500

5x = 6600 4x = 3200 3x = 2000

7s

5x = 500 4x = 315 3x = 210

5x = 2000 4x = 1260 3x = 840

Wilds

5x = 315 4x = 230 3x = 150

5x = 1260 4x = 920 3x = 600

Diamonds

5x = 315 4x = 230 3x = 150

5x = 1260 4x = 920 3x = 600

Triple Bars

5x = 250 4x = 170 3x = 100

5x = 1000 4x = 680 3x = 400

Double Bars

5x = 165 4x = 105 3x = 60

5x = 660 4x = 420 3x = 240

Single Bar

5x = 135 4x = 85 3x = 55

5x = 540 4x = 340 3x = 220

Grapes

5x = 100 4x = 65 3x = 50

5x = 400 4x = 260 3x = 200

Bananas

5x = 85 4x = 60 3x = 40

5x = 340 4x = 240 3x = 160

Cherries

5x = 75 4x = 50 3x = 35

5x = 300 4x = 200 3x = 140

IMPORTANT THING #1: Five wild cards is NOT the same as five Winnies! Wild cards on their own have the same value as diamonds.

IMPORTANT THING #2: Wild cards latch on to whatever you have the most of. Even if it’s worth less than another combination! Take a look.

Wait a minute..

Here I have two wilds, two cherries, and one Winnie. I have more cherries than Winnies, so the wilds stick to the cherries. This turns my hand into 4x cherries for 50 points. I’d much rather have 3x Winnies for 500 points, but they didn’t ask me. :(

Wilds are often saved up to to create a Winnie jackpot. Winnies are pretty rare, and the wilds really help!

Woohooo!!!

Tips & Tricks

As previously mentioned, Slot Social is a very popular game! I have a LOT of tips to share with you!

1.Whenever possible hit “Cash In” only when you havefive of a kind. If you’re playing at an odd hour and the rooms are empty, well, you may have to cash in with 4x or even 3x. But if there are people around, trade trade trade!! Winster is about helping each other achieve high scores, so don’t be afraid to trade!

2. If you have trouble remembering what pieces are worth, here’s a little mnemonic. (I love these things!) This one groups the items from lowest value to highest.

Fruit bats don’t wear shiny watches.

Which translates to:

Fruits Bars Diamonds Wilds Sevens Winnies

I particularly like this one because it insinuates that fruit bats DO wear watches, just not shiny ones. ^_^ If you make your own mnemonic please share! I’d love to hear what you come up with.

3. Sometimes you may end up with piece that you want to save, but you already have 4 of a kind going on.

“Uh-oh” indeed!

I definitely don’t want to “spin” that Winnie away. But unless someone trades a diamond with me, I’m stuck!! If only there was a way to hang on to that Winnie and keep spinning…

Good news! There is a way, but it involves a bit of trust on your part. You can ask another player to “hold” a piece for you. If zie says yes, trade the piece to hir. (You’ll want to trade to either an empty spot or for a low value piece, like fruit.) Once you get the last piece and cash in, zie’ll trade the GOOD piece back to you.

Most people only ask others to “hold” wilds and Winnies. About 99% of the time they get the pieces back. For the remaining 1% the other player might lag, lose connection, or flat out keep the piece. I won’t pretend that it doesn’t happen. But it really is pretty rare.

Rule of thumb: If you don’t ask someone to “hold” when you trade over a valuable piece, don’t assume that zie knows you want the piece back!

4. Generosity is contagious. Really! It’s okay to ask someone to hold pieces for you, but you should also consider just giving valuable pieces away. Why? Well for starters, it’s a nice thing to do! Secondly, when you’re generous with your pieces, other people will be generous to you. I’ve met so many nice players who gave me whatever pieces they couldn’t use. And you know what? Not only did it make me smile, but I wanted to give back to them. It’s really fun!

Now every once in a while you may come across a “leech.” This is someone who accepts all of the freebies but never gives anything in return. You don’t need to yell at hir or change rooms. Just keep trading with the other players and be merry. ^_^

5. You might hear people talk about playing “Cherries.” This is a Winster bonus game. You see, whenever players spin the same item, everyone who spun the item gets a group bonus!

In Slot Social the cherries are the most common piece. To increase the odds of getting a group bonus, many players stop spinning when they land on cherries. After 20 seconds the piece will fade and you can’t get a group bonus from it anymore.

Right now the Cherries game is in flux. It’s so popular that it’s unbalanced the game! Winster is working to find that balance again. Many people are upset, but they need to remember two things.

Winster is a business! If they simply gave away money they would go bankrupt and the site would close.

Because players earn prizes by playing, Winster has to balance membership fees and prize payouts in addition to paying employees and keeping the servers up!

It’s not an easy task, and I don’t envy them. When the Cherries game is stable I’ll come back here and list the bonus points. ^_^

6. BE POLITE!!! Say “Thank you!” and “You’re welcome!” and say it often! Slow typer? No excuse! ^_^ Winster made it incredibly easy for everyone! Just hit the “ty” button to say “Thank you!” and the “yw” button to say “You’re welcome!”

It couldn’t be any easier, and it’s such a simple thing to do. If you never say “Thank you” you appear ungrateful, and people won’t want to keep trading with you. Take a second to click the button and everybody wins. ^_^